June 10, 2010

Ever eat in your car? If so, we're thinking there is a good chance there is currently at least one french fry stuck between the driver seat and the center arm rest. That's pretty bad, but a study by researchers from British auto accessories retailer Halfords shows that there probably are a lot more disgusting things in your ride than some fried potatoes or a few chunks of shredded lettuce. Scientists swabbed the door handles, steering wheel, shift knob, radio and seats and found bacteria ranging from Staphylococcus to Bacillus Cereus. Those names just sound unhealthy, and in reality they are the germs that cause food poisoning, impetigo severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Those nasty germs enter your car through the soil you walk on, the pets you travel with, the passengers you transport and the very hands you use to eat all that food.

That's really bad news if you eat in your car regularly, and the study by Halfords shows that 70 percent of people do just that. Further, half of those study admitted to leaving food behind in the car, giving those bacteria the sustenance they need to help ruin your week. And don't think that since this is summertime that the sun will bake your interior to the point where the germs die off. Quite the contrary, the nasty little microbes multiply faster as your vehicle heats up, bolstering the little buggers for the impending fight against your immune system.

To protect yourself from these germs, the best defense is to keep your hands clean and leave the eating for a clean kitchen table. But if you must eat while driving, scientists feel that car owners should clean their vehicles as often as one would wipe down that kitchen table. We're not the type to shy away from every germ nature has to offer, but something as serious-sounding as Staphylococcus makes us want to make with the disinfecting wipes in short order.

With all of the hype surrounding the BMW's M-badged X5 and X6, as well as the renewed Porsche Cayenne range, it's easy to forget that Mercedes-Benz has its own super-fast sport-ute, the ML63 AMG. As its name suggests, this top-rung ML is fitted with the same 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 that we've come to love in the rest of the automaker's AMG lineup, good for 503 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque in this application.

We expect to see an all-new AMG M-Class in the next couple of years, but for now, Mercedes-Benz has updated the ML63 with very subtle exterior tweaks, including darkened headlamps and taillamps, a refreshed hood and tweaked front and rear underguards (in chrome, of course). From there, not much else changes – the seven-speed AMG Speedshift transmission is still in place, routing all of that forward thrust to all four wheels, measuring 20 inches in diameter (21s can be had as an option).

In the ML AMG's next generation, expect to see the automaker's brand new twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 under the hood, good for around 544 horsepower and a pavement-churning 590 pound-feet of torque. High-powered SUVs and crossovers aren't the most practical of automotive choices these days, but we're happy to still see them moving forward. After all, sometimes you just need to get the kids to soccer practice in extremely short order.